Patrons lament the coming loss of Trenton's DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies

TRENTON — Not much has changed over the 65-year run of revered city landmark DeLorenzo’s Pizza.

The small green plates and short dark glasses still adorn each table. The push-button register still rings and dings with each sale.

And the nearing dinner time still draws a gaggle of hungry locals, who dutifully form a line along the sidewalk, waiting to get in.

But this week’s news that the legendary eatery will be closing the doors of its Hudson Street location on Jan. 15 has brought a new mix of emotions to the table for its patrons.

‘NEVER BE THE SAME’

“We’re going to miss it so, so much — our car knows how to get here,” DeLorenzo’s regular Becky Hendrickson said of herself and her husband, Ray.

“It’ll never be the same,” she added, as tears streamed down from her eyes.

The couple has been frequenting the spot since 1968, she said, savoring their weekly visit as a chance to relax and enjoy “the best pizza there is.” DeLorenzo’s was the first pizza their children ate, Ray said, and the pair have formed a friendship with the eatery’s owners, Gary and Eileen Amico, and watched their son, Sam, grow up.

“I’ll eat other pizza from time to time, but it doesn’t count — it’s not real pizza,” Becky said.

According to her husband, the “not real pizza” designation even extended to the pies the couple tried on a recent trip to Italy.

“We tried to find a pizza place there that could match this one, and we couldn’t,” he said. “We tried really hard.”

VISITED 60 YEARS AGO

Indulging in the restaurant’s famous tomato pie is also a tradition for Melanie Thiel — a 49-year veteran customer of DeLorenzo’s — and her husband, Larry, who first visited the place 60 years ago.

“Of course we’re going to be sad. It’s a big loss to Trenton,” said Melanie, who added that she and her husband still make frequent trips to the pizzeria despite moving to Pennsylvania.

Although the eatery has two other locations — on Hamilton Avenue in Hamilton and Route 33 in Robbinsville — Melanie still favors the pies at the original location.

“They say they make the pies the same way at all the locations, but the ones here just seem to taste better,” she said.

Her tablemates, Jeffrey and Linda Maiden, said that after e-mailing the news to their three children, who live in Virginia, North Carolina and Wyoming, they were met with immediate, gloomy responses from all three of them, upset that they lived so far from the restaurant.

OVER AN HOUR’S DRIVE

For Bruce and Donna Davis, distance from the eatery is also an issue, but the couple still drive over an hour each week for their tomato pie fix.

“We pass like 10 pizza places on the way here, but this is the only one that matters,” Donna said.

The couple have been frequenting the place for the past five years, since a friend of Bruce’s introduced them to the pies. Now, Bruce said, it’s hard to imagine a week without it.

“It’s one of the things we look forward to the most,” he said. “We drive an hour and fifteen minutes to get here — how do you think we feel? It’s going to be very sad when it’s gone.”

News of the upcoming closing of the legendary store — whose reputation has drawn in singer Vic Damone and a food critic from the New York Times — even attracted patrons who have never dined there before, who wanted to try the pie in the unique row-home location before it’s too late.

“It’s one of those things we always wanted to do,” said Dave Gocke, who was there with his wife, Barbara.

“When we saw the article that it was closing, we said, ‘Oh, well, we better get out there before it’s too late!’”
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